marksman wrote:Die Judicii wrote:I've read all of the above, and see no mention of the "real" suitability in your case of using the .17 HMR
I am of the understanding that this particular round was first developed at the request of the american military.
Because a lot of fresh intakes had no or little experience with firearms, they needed to address this and the ensuing safety issues.
Some of their primary requisites were as follow,
1) A small lightweight round.
2) A round that was highly frangible that would disintergrate upon impact of minimal objects such as branches etc.
3) Accurate
So really the .17 HMR is probably even more suitable on smaller holdings than the common .22 lr or .22 short.
Especially so if there is shrubbery, light tree coverage etc.
It still pays to take notice of what has been said by other members as regard to backdrop, markers, etc etc.
Common sense goes a long way.
well said Die Judici
they are very frangible and on 20 acres if they were used with common sence would be safer to use than a 22 rimfire that is not
a safer option would be a pair of ferrets and maybe a 12 gauge used sensibly but there is no limit to the size of land you can shoot on in vic as long as it is not a populous place and you are 200 meters from the nearest house ect
it would be best to get the property owner to have a talk with the neighbours so they know what is going on
I dont think the american military are sending out inexperienced shooters to bowl these bunnies over...
While i agree with the points of frangibility of the projectile in the HMR,(that point and ferrets (
) were the first 2 things that came to my mind given i grew up stuffing ferrets down warrens to shotgun bunnies, & i prefer to use 22-250 than 222/223 for spotlighting due to lessened risk of ricochet's & i tell farmers this) there is other factors to take into account.
Like for example...on a small block, after one shot from a HMR, you can pack up & come back a few hours later for your second shot as this will scare most others off...
Also as for safe, use sub hp's...thats all ive used my entire life & i cannot tell you how many bunnies ive head shot within 40 yds (& i mean within, including them being so close i struggle for elevation poking the rifle out the window!!) around farm infrastructure, INCLUDING up against sheds, & NOT had any damage to the iron immediately behind the bunnies head...i can only think of one occasion where ive heard the "tink" on the iron & yet not been able to see any damage.
Also, if not keeping meat as i do, a shot to the shoulder of a bunny with a sub hp .22 is highly unlikely to exit even at the closest of ranges--you will hear a pop & see said bunny fall over with some muscle tension in its legs then go floppy....& a bunnies head &/or chest is a pretty big target at 70 yds...
So, with noise & accuracy taken into account, along with the shooter using sensibility in regard to his/her ability & safe backdrop, i would say the over-all
"real" suitability for vermin destruction in close quarters (anywhere out to say 100yds depending on shooters ability) would be a .22lr shooting sub hp's...of course, in my opinion
As for later comments on bringing back silencers...yes i agree.
..that is where my use of sub's derrived from using one of them...
But i need to ask...what use iis a silencer on a 17HMR...??
For 'silencing" to be effective, the bullet must be traveling at or below the speed of sound so as to force the gasses & sound wave into the baffles to slow & muffle it & prevent them from escaping to the atmosphere before the bullet ...also, a silencer has no ability (to the best of my knowledge) to remove the sonic boom through the atmosphere created from an object travelling faster than the speed of sound, so a silencer on a 17hmr will scare just as many bunnies off as not using one...
While im here...whats with assuming everyone else other than you & Bills Shed are stupid for apparently 'not' picking up on thew fact its a rimfire when Tassie mentioned loading it down...?
I didnt hear you pipe up...
And i thought Blade made it pretty clear anyway...his explanation of pulling apart rimfire rounds was self explanatory i thought.
I dont understand why you wouldnt just mention to Tassie its a rimfire round & downloading is not a viable option, rather than wait & insinuate everyone else is stupid...
...but then youve made it very clear you think others here, such as myself are fukwits, so i guess that answers my question.
Believe it or not, im not trying to create waves & add to my unpopularity...just saying...
The man who knows everything, doesnt really know everything...he's just stopped learning...